As part of the rules of being a senior project,

I must have an expectations and outcomes page in the full report. Seeing as I know what I intend to do as the core features (L4D AI director + unique storyline with various routes to end encounter + portal gun - cake) and a few other more abstract things (potential cameos of characters from the Fractured universe, potential setup for another campaign, figure out the meaning of life (Its pudding, by the way), etc..).

So all this brings me to the crux of the matter:

What do you expect or wish to see as either features or core elements in Left 4 Dead: The Portal Incident?

Granted I may not have time to add or agree with all suggestions, but I figured I would test the waters and see what people are looking for.

Feel free to comment in reply to this News article, or by sending me an email at frgamedev@gmail.com

I agree entirely on the 1 portal gun available to players...which does bring up the point in my mind that I will need to alter encounters based on the number of live bodies (aka player controlled vs computer controlled). Thanks ^_^

The engine itself isnt whats in question. All of Valves games use the source engine with an additional layer of logic on top of it. At its base level, it is capable of handling physics interactions, bullet physics, and multiple users.

What L4D brought to the table was the AI Director to properly spawn simple AI constructs (common infected) with those of a rarer variety (special infected) based on a bunch of different factors. It is the Director, not the zombies themselves, that is the chief technical addition.

Portal on the other hand, expanded the physics along with allowing "portal layers" (essentially placing a door/gradual teleport) to be placed at will. Notice how none of the enemies in Portal ever move toward the player and all are bound to their posts? That was a combination of the limitation of the current AI system and a game design choice.

While not easy, it is entirely possible to layer the L4D AI Director over Portal's existing architecture. If not, It is possible to create a working replica of what is known from a black box perspective of the AI Director. Granted it wouldn't be the real Mccoy, but it would be close enough that players would feel at home.